The Long Game
by satan-chillin
Summary: What the common demons, Princes of Hell, and Lilith never get to know is that Belphegor is also a player in the long game. And the long game he's playing is putting the right king in the throne of Hell.


Belphegor stares at the closed doors.

Inside, he knows Sam and Rowena are preparing for the spell, and he thinks there's a reason why Rowena specifically asks for Sam to be left behind with her.

There's a huge thrum of energy that flows from behind the doors before a quake shatters the silence of the cemetery and shakes the ground.

Belphegor is aware that this kind of power can only be from the witch, and he takes a moment to relish in the energy that reverberates.

It's not enough, however, and Belphegor thinks it's about to happen now.

He saw it before. He saw it in a possible future of what Hell can become with the right person on the throne. He saw how Hell can become more than the bleak and miserable pit it is, more than the screams of the damned, and armies of demons more than the mindless beings than they are now.

The other Princes of Hell called him a coward when he refused to get involved with their own agendas, and Lilith had cursed him to the deepest level of Hell for his nonchalance when he refused to answer her call.

Belphegor can't find it in himself, even now, to regret the choices he made. He angered the Lucifer, Azazel, and Lilith loyalists, and he remained indifferent when it was Asmodeous. Crowley was more amusing as a ruler, but definitely more interesting compared to the rest. Belphegor saw promise in him when talks of how a Crossroads demon reshaped Hell to his liking managed to reach even the deepest of Hell's prison.

Rulers came and went while there are only two names cursed within the halls of Hell: Sam and Dean Winchester.

Belphegor strayed from the mainstream long enough for him to get tagged with sloth. And while he admits there's a nice ring in the title that grew on him, he thinks it never fits him. Not really.

They never knew. Nobody found out that he's playing the long game even before he was in his prison for a decade and a half with his vivid visions. Not when he's a player like the rest of the lot who played for the throne, except he's playing it more subtly and more cleverly than any.

The earthquake stops to shake, but the gate of Hell remains open, with spirits more agitated and angrier as they close around Belphegor, Dean, and Castiel.

It's time, and Belphegor is aware that it's Do or Die for Sam.

When the gate remains opened and the spell unfinished, Belphegor knows Sam already made up his mind.

He goes inside, and he hears that Dean and Castiel think he betrays them in the heat of the battle as Belphegor shuts the locks behind him.

He stumbles upon Sam and Rowena who turns at him with surprise in their tear-streaked faces, and Belphegor is glad he missed the emotional phase.

"The spell needs a life," Sam says, recovering first. "I'll do it."

"No, Samuel," Rowena hisses. She pushes the small knife to him and insists. "Do it now if you don't want your brother and Castiel to die outside."

Neither of them wants to do it, that much is clear, and if Belphegor still has his human heart he would have been touched with the way Sam's hand entwines with Rowena's as he gets close to her protectively, pleading.

Belphegor thinks he made the right investment and placed his bets on the winning hand as he watches the drama unfold before him.

"I'll do it," he pipes in, easily plucking away the small ornate knife from Rowena. "A life is a life is a life."

He's met with no protests.

"Why?" Sam asks instead. "Why are you helping us?"

Belphegor gets brief flashes that are too quick to pass as proper visions: of a tall prince with hazel eyes and who rides with the wind, both water and fire under his fingertips; of a lady with a stray dark lock against her white hair, standing with the feline familiar who bares the same purple eyes as hers; of a boy with a mane of red hair and can raise and command the dead with a snap of his fingers.

They will be worlds away from the former Princes of Hell, and Hell will be at its peak once it's their and their father's turn to lead.

"I told you." Belphegor shrugs. "I'm on _your _side, Sam Winchester."

He would have liked to see for himself the Golden Age, but, oh, well, this is fine too.

Especially now that Sam and Rowena are finally on the right track, their fate more strongly entwined and getting closer and closer to indestructible.

"Long live the King," Belphegor states as he plunges the knife in the gut of the Nephilim he's wearing.

Belphegor wins in the end.


End file.
